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Photo by Diana Haecker RUNNING FOR WES— Over 200 Nomeites ran in a fundraiser Saturday for Wes Perkins who was mauled by a bear and is on a long road to recovery in a hospital in Seattle. See story page 20 C VOLUME CXI NO. 24 JUNE 16, 2011 Council hikes property tax by 71 percent By Sandra L. Medearis FY-12 budget, they said. The mill The Nome Common Council in- rate has to be set by June 15. troduced five City budgets into first Councilman Stan Anderson began reading June 13—spending plans the raise with an amendment kicking from general funds ($9.97 million), the mill rate up to 11 mills. That ges- capital projects funds ($2.15 mil- ture died without a second to the mo- lion), special revenue funds tion. Councilman Gerald Brown then ($164,000) Port of Nome funds made a motion to bump the rate to 12 ($1.967 million), and construction mills. The motion for that amend- capital funds ($818,000). ment passed unanimously. Then the At the beginning of deliberations Council voted unanimously to set the on general fund budget in recent 12-mill rate in concrete. The City weeks, the City’s administration budgets, including the general fund handed the Council a budget based budget, will come up for public hear- on a 16 mill rate for starters. Oh no, ing and final passage on June 27. Councilwoman Mary Knodel told “I am uncomfortable with a the panel at a recent work session. budget at 11 mills. At 11 mills it is Knodel’s cuts reduced the budget to scraped,” Brown said. He observed 10 mills. Last week, the Council that the City had needed to get into made further cuts in a work session. savings to the tune of $2 million last At the June 13 regular Council meet- year, and with a budget based on too ing, the Council boosted the budget low a mill rate, the dip into reserves Photo by Peggy Fagerstrom back onto a base of 12 mills and set would be deeper, that it would be “ir- the mill rate at 12 mills. The amount responsible” to put it below 12 mills. HELPING KELPING Bebucks Ivanoff lends a hand to Yvonne Ivanoff as she fills her bag with herring raised to meet City costs from ten eggs on kelp. See story page 10. mills was just too lean to support the continued on page 4 NPFMC decides chum salmon bycatch study needs more work By Laurie McNicholas Sea pollock fishery and bring it back sold. Most of the chum salmon The North Pacific Fishery Man- to the council for initial review. The taken as incidental catches in the agement Council has unanimously action came last Saturday after the large trawl nets used by pollock ves- adopted a motion by Commissioner council heard evaluations of alterna- sels are dead when they are brought Cora Campbell, Alaska Dept. of Fish tives for reducing chum bycatch by on board and are returned to the sea. and Game asking staff to revise an staff, committee reports and public That seems a horrifying waste to a analysis of alternatives to address testimony at the Mini Convention majority of those who testified on chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Center in Nome. chum salmon bycatch at last week’s The council became concerned council meeting. They came from about chum salmon bycatch in the communities in the Bering Strait, Bering Sea pollock fishery when it Yukon River and Kuskokwim areas On the Web: spiked to 440,459 fish in 2004, to represent the interests of their www.nomenugget.net 704,586 in 2005, and 309,644 in families and tribes by telling the 2006—a total of 1.45 million chums council personal stories to show how E-mail: in three years. Chum bycatch has important chum salmon is to them. [email protected] fluctuated in recent years from They have valued chum salmon as 93,786 fish in 2007 to 13,306 in food all their lives, and they value 2010. catching, cutting, drying and sharing Salmon are prohibited species in chum as activities that hold their Photo by Nadja Roessek the pollock fishery, but vessels tow- families together and nurture their ing large trawl nets incidentally communities. TESTIFYING— Nome Elder Dan Karmun with his grandaughter, catch salmon along with pollock. By Perry Mendenhall of Nome told Marie Tozier at the North Pacific Fishery Managemet Council meeting law, bycatch is counted but cannot be continued on page 5 last week in Nome. 2 THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2011 OPINION THE NOME NUGGET Letters Dear Nancy, As our Senator Donny Olson Thank you, Nancy for publishing. clothes on sewage line and in the paperwork and passes get lost or de- I take this opportunity of my states, get as much education as you Sincerely, bathroom that is unsanitary because nied. “freedom” of speech to laud all your can. Look at where it has taken him. Howard I. Slowpoke, Jr. there are some residents who had I think the community should graduates of Bering Straits School I thank him for his public service. Unalakleet, AK 99684 cuts here. We can smell the mildew know what is going on here because District and beyond. Thanks to his Godly mother who that is building up in our living area;, we are part of the community too. Congratulations on 12 short years raised him. Dear Editor, where we are locked down, con- The community comes and gets a lot of doing your homework. Many of I commend you graduates who Hi. My name is Andrew stantly punished for othermistakes. of residents to go help set up for ac- you have chosen to go on to broaden have chosen to be drug and alcohol Ningealook, Jr. I’m from Shish- The staff here is unprofessional, tivities and events. We are here to be your minds. I will tell you that you free. What a choice! Keep it up! maref. Right now I’m currently swearing and putting the residents rehabilitated back into the commu- will not quit until your dreams are Thanks to my Godly mother’s housed at the Seaside Center. I’m down, making us feel like we are nity but we are being treated worse fulfilled. prayers on a daily basis. Without our writing this letter on behalf of the lower than standards, plus this place than prisoners. Some of you will become leaders, mothers’ prayerful petitions on a residents and myself here at Seaside is making their own rules as they go Writing this will probably result in doctors, presidents and the list goes daily basis, where would some of us Center. This place is housing us like along. This is GeoCare, not Cornell. me getting punished. I, myself, have on. Your parents brought you into be? animals. I would like to begin by our We have Cornell handbooks that the right just like everyone else, to the world along with the Holy Do you graduates want a produc- vacuums breaking down for about don’t apply because they say we are Freedom of Speech without reper- Spirit’s help. In your vocabulary tive, fulfilling, long life? three weeks now and our living area run by GeoCare. We don’t have cussion. there should not and will not be the Drugs and alcohol have to be a is filthy. Then our dryers are out of GeoCare handbooks for our instruc- Andrew Ningealook Jr. phrase I can’t. pitfall you will avoid. service for about two weeks now. tions to read. The furloughs case Seaside Center There are people that work who need manager here is very incompetent Nome, AK 99762 clean clothes. when it comes to our care. The case P.S. Anyone who is concerned Letters to the editor must be signed and This place didn’t give us proper manager sleeps on the job, rarely get- about our well being can come clotheslines to dry our clothes. I see ting our paperwork done. If we con- down and visit or call me at 443- include an address and phone number. a lot of residents here drying their front the case manager, our 6390. Thank yous and political endorsements are considered ads. Editorial We can see Canada and Russia The Redistricting Board, which determines the boundaries of our legislative districts must have been holding its meetings in a crack house. How could they possibly have come up with such an addled map to represent our region in Juneau? While we hear that some An- chorage area representatives are upset with the way their districts have been finagled, they canʼt hold a candle to the shape we are in. Wow, we can see Canada and Russia from our proposed district. While the Redistricting plans are not yet final, time is running out. The first plans for this area were tolerable with some fine-tuning along the current boundaries. Now a snake has been let loose and they are talking about making District 39 (Foster) extend to the Canadian bor- der and be the largest district in the state; while the Senate District T would cover the northern third of the state. Districts this large are ab- surd. It would take at least five hours by chartered plane to go from one end to the other. Of course we know there are no roads, but does the Redistricting Board understand the problem? To get from one end to the other by commercial plane from Nome, one would have to fly to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks and then by air taxi.